September 29, 1902 - Edwin Babe Horrell was a former center from the University of California at Berkeley that played during the seasons of 1922 thru 1924. Per information garnered from the footballfoundation.org website, Babe Horrell was so good that his alma-mater high school in Pasadena, California named their football field after him, Horrell Field. Babe lettered in five different sports at the high school: football, basketball, track, swimming and tennis. This well rounded athlete translated to a great collegiate career. The Golden Bears had an undefeated 26-0-3 record in the three seasons that Horrell played on the team. Edwin was the Golden Bears captain and was voted as an All-American for the season of 1924. How influential can a center be in a game? Well ask the 1923 Stanford University team about that, as Horrell blocked a punt and recovered it for a touchdown then later sacked a Cardinal back in the end zone for a safety, final score was 9-0! After graduation Babe became an assistant coach at UCLA for 12 seasons before taking over the head job in 1939 for 5 more seasons. The National Football Foundation voted Edwin Horrell into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
September 29, 1926 - Pete Elliott was a quarterback from the University of Michigan that played from 1945 through the 1948 seasons. The National Football Foundation informs us on their website that Pete played halfback during his freshman season and even tossed a few passes that year. As a sophomore he was moved to the position of quarterback, which had the role of a blocker in the Wolverine single-wing offensive system. On defense he played halfback and in 1948 he was named as an All-American at that position. Pete was a great athlete as he lettered 12 times at Michigan, four each from the sports of football, golf and basketball. The University served him the Big 10 Medal which was awarded to the student considered at the top of both athletics and academia. Pete was selected to enter the College Football Hall of Fame at the 1994 induction ceremonies. After graduation, Elliott went into coaching and served in the head position at Nebraska, California, Illinois and Miami Florida. Pete Elliott then eventually became the executive director of Canton, Ohio’s Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Elliott brood was indeed a football family, Pete’s father Dr. Norman Elliott played ball at Illinois Wesleyan, his brother Bump starred at both Purdue and Michigan and is also in the College Football Hall of Fame and Pete’s boys Dave and Bruce played for the Wolverines. Many of the family also entered into coaching after their playing days as Dr. Norman, Pete, Bump and Dave all held positions on coaching staffs in college football.
September 29, 1932 - Paul Giel played halfback at the University of Minnesota from 1951 through the 1953 seasons. The National Football Foundation voted Paul Giel into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975. The Minnesota teams that Giel played on were average at best posting a losing records overall in the three seasons Paul was on the squad. Paul Giel was a bright spot on the team though as according to the footballfoundation.org website his career totals were 2188 yards rushing complimented with an additional 1922 yards passing. Girl started off in the Golden Gophers single-wing offense at the blocking quarterback position but eventually was moved to play at the left halfback spot where his running and passing skill sets could be utilized. One of the highlights of Paul’s collegiate career came in his senior season against the heavily favored Michigan Wolverines. The Gophers pulled off a massive upset powered by Giel’s two rushing touchdowns and an additional score attributed to Pauls arm resulting in a 22-0 blanking of Michigan. That season Giel was voted as the AP Back of the Year, the UP Player of the Year and won Minnesota’s Big 10 Award for being the top athlete in academics. He eventually became the University of Minnesota’s Athletic Director from 1971 through 1989.
September 29, 1942 - Dave Wilcox also known as “the Intimidator," was a linebacker that hailed from the University of Oregon. He was an intimidating specimen just as his nickname suggests standing at 6’-3” and weighing in at 241 pounds when he was selected by both the Houston Oilers of the AFL and the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers in the 1964 respective league drafts. The 49ers won the bid and they drafted a great one in the 3rd round. Wilcox played for eleven seasons in the League as a linebacker and his aggressive style of play made many experts consider him as the best player at the position in that era of football. According to his bio on ProFootballHOF.com Wilcox prided himself in being unblockable and was known for jamming tight ends at the line and knocking them off of their designed routes. In those 11 seasons Dave Wilcox missed only one game due to injury and was selected as an All-NFL player 5 times and as a second-team All-NFL in three others! The Pro Football Hall of Fame placed his bronze bust into their displays in the year 2000’s induction ceremonies.
September 29, 1985 - Calvin Johnson played wide receiver for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Calvin is arguably the greatest receiver to have ever come out of Georgia Tech as he twice was selected as a First-Team All-American at the position and was the winner of the Biletnikoff Award for being the nation’s top wideout in 2006. According to the National Football Foundation Johnson is the Yellow Jackets All-Time leader in receiving yards posting 2927 yards, had 13 collegiate 100 yard games and scored 28 touchdowns in his 3 seasons played. Calvin Johnson’s great play was a big part of GT making it to three consecutive postseason bowl games. The Detroit Lions used the second overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft to select the man called “Megatron” and it paid immediate dividends to the franchise. In his 9 seasons with the team he was a Pro Bowl player 6 times and shattered almost all of the franchise’s receiving records and even holds the NFL’s single season receiving yards record! Megatron has also been a boost to his community as he has established the Calvin Johnson Jr. Foundation to help at-risk youth and provide financial assistance to community organizations. The College Football Hall of Fame welcomed Calvin Johnson into their ranks in 2018 while the Pro Football Hall of Fame welcomed in Megatron into the 2021 class.
